What was it like to be a slave in the Roman Empire? The answer, according to the latest excavations at Vagnari, is that slaves were rather better looked after than one might expect: they ate quite well, they suffered less from childhood starvation than did the population in general, and when they died, the grave goods they were buried with suggested that they were certainly not living in abject poverty.

Excavating one of the skeletons: note the pot by the feet, and the second pot by the head, with a bronze roundel being excavated by the neck. Is the the burial of a slave?

A dam unearthed during excavation work in the northern Anatolian province of Çorum reveals that the dam construction techniques of the ancient past are similar to the techniques used today, according to archaeologists.

“We excavated the area but could not unearth the dam completely. This dam was built 3,250 years ago but with the same technique used today. They used clay instead of cement. It is important for us because even the Hittites understood 3,250 years ago that it was not possible to live in Anatolia without constructing a dam,” said Professor Aykut Çınaroğlu, who heads the excavations at Alacahöyuk.

Earth's geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved

There's no accounting for taste—a truism that extends even to the earliest humans. By 3.5 million years ago, some early hominins in the Central African nation of Chad had already developed their own distinct tastes—literally. Three members of the genus Australopithecus—close cousins of the famed Lucy—had a yen for grass and sedges, according to a new study published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The shift suggests that hominins adapted their diet to living in more open terrain, as our ancestors did at some point, earlier than thought.

The Italian Archaeological Mission on Wednesday discovered an ancient cemetery dating back thousands of years at Odigram, Swat — a site experts believe was built between 1500 BC to 500 BC.
The site was home to unique ancient graves, pottery, ornaments made of bronze and copper, spindles and hairpins — a discovery made under the framework of the Archaeology Community Tourism (ACT) project.
A total of 23 graves have been excavated at the site that seems to be an ancient cemetery, indicating that they belonged to the pre-Buddhist era.

Archaeologists discovered the cemetery at Odigam, which is home to ancient graves, pottery and ornaments. PHOTO: FAZAL KHALIQ/EXPRESS

Seventeen hundred years ago, the emperor Constantine marched on Rome. His propaganda spoke of freeing Italy and the Eternal City from the tyrant Maxentius. But the real aim of this supremely ambitious and deeply religious man was the conquest and reunification of the Roman Empire. There would be one empire, one ruler, and henceforth, one faith.The army marched from Trier in spring AD 312. Legons and elite cavalry regiments called vexillations were at its core. Auxiliary regiments, of lesser prestige in the Roman military hierarchy but still fearsome in battle, brought the strength of the expeditionary force to just under 40,000 fighting men. It was a pagan army that marched under eagle and dragon standards, but at its head rode an emperor with growing Christian sympathies.
For the pagan soldiers, Constantine’s preferred deity was less important than his marks of divine favour. Since his elevation to the throne by the army at York in AD 306, the emperor’s victories over the Germans had provided ample evidence of the favour of the gods – or perhaps a god. Constantine, moreover, was charismatic and genuinely concerned for the welfare of his soldiers. It was in these early campaigns that he endeared himself to them as their ‘fellow-veteran’.
Constantine’s hold over his army is demonstrated by the first battle of the campaign of AD 312. Having marched south to Lyon, and thence to Vienne, the army crossed the Alps and descended on Susa in north-west Italy. The Maxentian garrison barred the gates of the fortress city and manned the ramparts.